…And now for the conclusion of my adventures with Psychic Lover.
My last encounter with Psychic Lover came when I attended the Summer 2006 Superhero Spirits (SHS) rock concert at the Zepp Tokyo live house in Odaiba. SHS is an annual music event that brings otaku from all over the kantō region together for a one-night only superhero theme song rock concert extravaganza.
I rode the monorail to Odaiba with my anime section friend Inoue-san. When the two of us arrived at Zepp Tokyo, Tanemura-san (also of CME’s anime division) was waiting at the entrance to give us our special VIP badges and usher us inside. I was wearing my black Psychic Lover shirt (the only piece of anime related apparel I own). Inoue-san was wearing regular street clothes and looked generally disinterested by the entire setup.
The three of us took a quick peak at the ground floor in front of the stage on our way to the dressing rooms. The bottom floor was already filled to the brim with hundreds of people (all standing since there were no chairs).
The three of us proceeded backstage to the dressing room area thanks to the VIP passes. I stored my bag with my digital camera and newly purchased aquamarine Nintendo DS in a spare room before the show started, which explains why there are no pictures of the live house itself.
One by one, almost as if we were reenacting the NHK enka television show filming from my first days at Columbia, Tanemura-san knocked on three sets of dressing room doors and took the time to expose aging Japanese rock stars to a white boy.
The first door we knocked on opened and four Japanese men were on the other side. It was the elephant graveyard. They all looked the age of my Kyoto host father, except they were sporting blonde highlighted hair, torn jeans, glittering jackets and multiple pieces of finger bling. It quickly occurred to me that these guys sang the old theme songs to the Power Rangers shows in Japan and were here to perform in tonight’s concert.
The rockers seemed quite uninterested with Inoue-san, but they all stared in awe at me. Once I introduced myself in Japanese, the rocker who would later sing the opening theme to “Bird Squadron Jet Rangers” came up to me and shook my hand. It wasn’t so much a handshake as it was a test of strength power clasp. The two of us locked arms as if we were about to arm wrestle. Our singular limb unit shook back and forth as he squinted his beady eyes, gnashed his teeth and said “BEN-SAN!!! NICE TO MEET YOU!!!” in powerful Japanese, emphasizing every word. I think singing superhero television show theme songs for twenty years had convinced the guy that he was a real life Power Ranger.
Behind door number two was the MC for the evening’s events. This man was quite overweight (a fact he would make light of in his self-deprecating comedy bit) and wore khaki shorts and a gray SHS T-shirt. A white headband caught the beads of sweat that rolled down his plump forehead. He asked me if I liked Japanese superheroes and anime. I explained that I watched Power Rangers and Masked Rider on TV in America, but that I didn’t really know any of the Japanese theme songs. I confided that I love Japanese videogames much more than anime. He asked me if I am a “gamer,” using the English word. When I said yes, he burst out laughing. Go figure.
The final dressing room was the fountain of youth. Inside were the youthful Yoffy and Joe as well as slightly more refined Nob. Nob is also a CME artist. He sings the opening theme to the current Power Rangers series in Japan and seemed disinterested in everybody present.
Yoffy was sitting on the couch with a nauseous look on his face, but managed “hi” and a smile as I walked in. Joe came over and flipped open his cell phone as he said “hi.” He showed me a picture of the ass and legs of a Japanese schoolgirl displayed on the tiny LCD screen. The dress was blue, the high cotton socks were rumpled, the legs were bent at the knees. “Isn’t she a little bit sexy?” he asked me. “Just a little bit sexy?” he whispered slowly.
“Who is she?” I asked.
“She’s ME!!!” he blurted out through a laugh, zooming out and revealing the entire picture. Indeed, it was Joe in complete schoolgirl cosplay (costume). “You make a really sexy girl,” I said. Everyone in the dressing room nodded and agreed. *You can see the pictures of Joe below this post.
The performers were on their standby cues as the concert was just about to begin, so we said goodbye, wished everyone luck, and took our seats on the second floor balcony of Zepp (this area actually had chairs).
The space grew dark. Spotlights illuminated a hanging black curtain, which was torn away in a burst of bass to reveal the stage. Red lights flooded the performance area and fog began to fill the stage. The crowd of hundreds erupted.
The following two-hour performance was a large-scale version of the Psychic Lover concert I had attended earlier at the Ginza Pasela Karaoke Hall. The music was all superhero television show theme songs (Power Rangers, Masked Rider, etc), and the audience members all pointed jumped, and punched through the songs. One after another, the heavyset MC would introduce a new (old) singer, who would take the stage and do physical things that a mid-sixty-year-old Japanese man should not be doing.
As the halfway mark of the show approached, Inoue-san’s head rested on his chest and his quiet snores were audible. How anyone could fall asleep in the midst of nonstop booming superhero music is beyond me. I, on the other hand, was awake, alert and constantly astounded with how energetic, in shape, and generally “genki” the older rock stars were. Not only did they look the part, they showed up some of the younger stars in terms of physicality. One gentleman, dressed in what can only be described as a sparkling blue tracksuit, did a full disco dance routine, spinning around on stage as he sang his song.
The singer who power shook my hand was rapid fire punching and kicking his way through an entire karate kata during his theme song. He finished the song, visibly winded, and asked the MC for a glass of water. He took gulps of the water and panted into the microphone. “Thirty years ago, I didn’t have to ask for a glass of water.” The audience erupted with cheers.
Psychic Lover performed their two Power Rangers themes Dekaranger and Boukenger (デカレンジャー and ボウケンジャー) and Nob sang his contribution while hoisting the microphone stand above his head in a display of cool bravado.
After the younglings did their thing, all the rockers took the stage to sing two final numbers. The first was some sort of American country music inspired superhero song. The artists all wore cowboy hats and strummed acoustic guitars. It seemed very out of place with the rest of the hard rock show (as hard rock as superhero songs can be for that matter…just don’t tell the fans).
The final song was the theme from the original Power Rangers series, Secret Squadron Go Rangers (秘密戦隊ゴレンジャー). And with that, everyone filed out of the hall, as silently and orderly as they had come.
The three of us made one more swing past the dressing rooms and congratulated everybody on a job well done. I was losing my voice (from a cold, not from screaming during the concert), so it was probably good that there was no after party.
That was the last time I saw Psychic Lover. Some might say it ended with a whimper rather than a bang, but I disagree. While I was sitting in the audience watching the SHS concert, something unexpected happened; I was moved.
Fathers and mothers stood next to their children in the cramped ground floor, all singing the lyrics to their favorite superhero songs together. Parents grew up with the series and characters that their children are now watching on TV; everything continues. Parents cheer when they see that a singer their age can still pull off the dance moves. Kids shriek when the ultra cool Psychic Lover and Nob take the stage. Everybody enjoys the music together, no matter what age, no matter what background. This is the power of pop culture in Japan.
Everything continues. I left Zepp Tokyo with a warm feeling inside. Thanks Psychic Lover for all the great memories!
The End
B.E.W.
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